


Lost and Found

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-02-04 21:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1793419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had to make sure he wasn't dreaming.</p><p>***Spoilers for "How to Train Your Dragon 2"***</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost and Found

It was too quiet to sleep.

Hiccup laid out on the grass just outside the house he could barely stand to be in anymore, staring up at the stars. He and Toothless had slept at the shop the last few weeks, through the bulk of the rebuilding, but tonight Gobber had chased him home and told him to sleep in a real bed. Hiccup had nearly argued that chiefs gave orders, not followed them, but he'd pictured the look his dad would have given him and hadn't said anything.

So he'd tried. It just ... hadn't worked so well.

Toothless, his head resting against Hiccup's stomach, made a sympathetic noise. "It's okay, bud," Hiccup murmured, stroking his head. "Maybe we should just spend the night right where we are." His mom usually slept back at the old dragon training academy, wrapped up in a big pile of dragons, and he knew both he and Toothless would be welcome. In his heart, though, he knew that would feel just as wrong as the empty house.

Hiccup closed his eyes, his ache for his father lodged permanently inside his chest. He still found himself turning sometimes, a question on the tip of his tongue, or flinching at the silence where a booming voice was supposed to be. Everyone kept telling him he was doing a great job, but it was a struggle far worse than when he'd had to re-learn everything without his leg. This time, a piece of his heart was gone.

Suddenly, Toothless's head jerked up, ears perked to some sound in the distance. "What is it, boy?" Hiccup murmured, slowly and silently getting to his feet. They'd found Drago's body the week before, but there was always a chance some of his men had come back in an attempt to finish the battle.

Toothless stood, senses still alert as he headed toward the water. Hiccup followed next to him, scanning the sky and ready to mount at any moment. An army might not be on the move, but they could have easily sent scouts ahead....

Hiccup caught sight of a Scauldron coasting through the sky, a slow, easy flight as if surveying the area or looking for a place to land. It was too dark to see if there was someone on its back, or if it was one of theirs, but he wasn't about to leave anything to chance.

He mounted up and Toothless took off, following the dragon like a shadow. There was definitely a rider on its back, too big and solid to be any of the Berk residents who might be riding a Scauldron, and Hiccup tensed as he prepared for trouble.

Then Toothless's head jerked, as if he'd caught a scent on the breeze, and he called out to the other dragon with the clear command of an alpha. The Scauldron didn't seem to hear at first, but then it circled back to get closer to Toothless.  Hiccup reached for his sword. "I'm not sure what you're doing, Toothless, but—"

"Son?"

Toothless let out a joyful sound as Hiccup's heart stopped. He leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at the other dragon's rider, but Toothless was already urging the other dragon to the nearest landing area. All Hiccup could do was hold on, his heart having re-started only to make a serious attempt to explode out of his chest completely.

The second they landed Hiccup stumbled-fell off of Toothless's back, hurrying toward the other dragon. His father was slower to get off, for the first time in his life holding his body like it was a fragile thing, but that didn't matter.

Hiccup threw his arms around him, the tears streaming down his cheeks. "You were dead."

His dad's arms closed around him carefully, and for the first time Hiccup thought to wonder if he had fallen asleep and was dreaming all this. Even if he had, he didn't want to wake up. "I know," Stoick rumbled, clearly emotional himself. "You gave me a proper sendoff, too, even though we were in the middle of nowhere. Thank you for that."

Remembering, Hiccup jerked back to look up at his father. "We burned you!"

His dad smiled down at him. "You burned the boat. Bottom must have collapsed, and when I fell in this scavenger here dragged me to safety. Shock of the water must have gotten my heart restarted, then Nanny nursed me back to health." He gave the dragon's head an affectionate scratch. "Turns out she's got a habit of collecting strays."

Eyes still wide, Hiccup went over to hug the dragon. "How did she avoid getting caught by the alpha?"

Stoick snapped his fingers near the dragon's ear, but it didn't flinch. "Deaf as a post. I'm the one that recognized Toothless's call."

He turned to look at Toothless, who was standing at a distance with his shoulders hunched, and held out a hand. "It was Drago," he said quietly. "Not you. I knew that even as I was running, Toothless."

With a small whimpering sound, Toothless crossed the distance to nuzzle Stoick's hand. When he smiled, scratching the dragon behind the ears, he nudged closer in a more enthusiastic embrace.

Stoick chuckled. "Easy, boy. I'm not quite as indestructible as I used to be."

Hiccup laid a hand against Stoick's shoulder, looking his father over in the moonlight. He couldn't see anything, but he could only imagine what his dad had suffered. "Let's get you back to the village," he said quietly.

Stoick laid his own hand against Hiccup's shoulder. "Whatever you say, Chief," he murmured.

Hiccup felt his eyes filling again. "Drago's dead," he said. "We don't know where the old Alpha is, but Toothless challenged him and won. He's the alpha now."

Stoic smiled. "I'm so proud of you." He looked down at Hiccup. "Both of you."

Not able to stop himself, Hiccup hugged his dad again. "Mom will be so glad to see you."

Stoick inhaled shakily. "She's okay, then?"

"She misses you. We both missed you, so much." He looked back up at his dad, a small smile on face. "I'm sure the village does, too. This new chief they have just isn't the same."

Stoick laughed. "I'm sure he's better than he thinks he is." He kissed the top of Hiccup's head, then pulled away to move around the side of the Scaldron. For the first time, Hiccup realized there was a dark lump still on the dragon's back. Carefully, Stoick gathered it into his arms. "Brought you something."

"Wha—" Hiccup's question cut off as Toothless suddenly followed him, standing next to Stoick and nudging curiously at the new bundle. When they both came back around, the young dragon in his dad's arms lifted its head up sleepily.

Hiccup gasped. "A Night Fury?"

"One of Nanny's strays." He handed the armful of dragon to Hiccup, who staggered a little under the unexpected weight. The dragon immediately woke up, attention zeroing in on Toothless, and flew off out of Hiccup's grip. She landed in front of Toothless, sniffing him even more thoroughly than he'd been sniffing her.

"At least, I think it's a her," Hiccup said out loud, awe in his voice. "The head seems to be narrower, though that might just be age."  He turned to his dad.  "How—"

Stoick shrugged coming back from the dead and bringing back what may have been the only other Night Fury in existence was nothing. "You brought your mother back from your adventure. I couldn't exactly show up empty-handed."

Hiccup laughed even as he wiped more tears from his cheeks. Then he took a deep breath, giving his neck a firm pinch.

Stoick raised an eyebrow when his son smiled at the pain. "What was that?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Just checking." Then he hugged his dad again. "I love you, you know."

His dad hugged him back. "I love you, too. Not even death can stop that."

"I know. But let's please not test that again for a really long time." He smiled as he pulled away. "Come on. Let's go home."

Stoick smiled back at him. "I'm looking forward to it."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my original short fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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